samba - Nov 2013 - Which Samba version?

Following on from my post about problems installing SerNet on 
Debian, and Rowland?s suggestion to start ?yet again, forget 
sernet, download and compile samba 4.1.1 and then use it just like 
samba 3.6?.  

I?m looking to migrate an existing Samba 3.1 PDC to a new server, 
and thought that using the latest 3.6 release made sense.  I have 
to replicate the old server on the new one, and make sure there are 
no problems with the SIDs etc on all the existing PCs.  Basically, 
the new server just has to take over, and work!  I did test this a 
while back, and got a test migration to work with Debian Squeezy.  
I?ve not used Samba 4 before, and always had it in the back of my 
mind that it might not yet be as stable as 3, plus for now I don?t 
need AD.  I thought it might be easier to just put the new server 
in with Samba 3, and then perhaps look at an upgrade-in-place to 4 
if ever needed.

My options appear to be:

1. Keep the 3.6.6 as bundled with Debian Wheezy.  Are there any 
problems with this?  Currently all PCs are WinXP, but after the new 
server goes in I?ll need to install some Windows 7/8 PCs.  I did 
test a Windows 7 PC with the Debian Squeezy Samba (3.5.6?), and it 
worked okay.

2. Install the Debian Backports 3.6.19 version (as suggested by 
Louis).  I didn?t know about this until Louis mentioned it.

3. Try to get SerNet 3.6.20 working ? I thought this might have 
been an easy install, but I could be doing something wrong.  I?ve 
had a quick look, and did see someone else had a similar problem 
with SerNet on a Uubunto server, where it uninstalled Gnome.  There 
was no follow-up so I?m not sure if this was resolved.

4. Look at Samba 4.  However, with my timescales, I wouldn?t want 
to look at this if it?s a completely different beastie.  As I say, 
I should be able to get the migration working to 3.6, but I?d be 
worried that migrating to 4 might introduce a lot more problems and 
complications.

I?m interested to know what you think would be the best option(s).

Thanks again for the help.

On Wed, 2013-11-20 at 17:34 +0000, deejayen at hush.com wrote:
> 
> 4. Look at Samba 4.
The Samba 3.6 series is no longer developed. Samba 4 works in exactly
the same way and with exactly the same configuration as the 3.6 series.
The only difference (which you don't need) is that it also gives you the
option of active directory.

I am with Rowland 100% on this. Stay away from anything that has been
packaged by a third party. Download genuine source code directly from
Samba and build it. It's very easy to do and you are guaranteeing that
you have no quirks or bugs introduced. Many of the problems posted here
come from distribution versions.

Just my ?0.02

Cheers,
Steve